“Peregrin Wildoak was born in Warwickshire, UK and emigrated to Perth, Western Australia at age 12, where he has lived ever since. In his youth he came into contact with the Western mystery traditions and was initiated into the Golden Dawn. He has also received initiation and training in several other traditions, including Wicca and an Isis Mystery School. Peregrin is a former editor of Pagan Times and Greenspirit, and co-founded the EarthDreaming tradition and the Golden Dawn Society of Western Australia.”

“The Golden Dawn system of magic is the main source of the esoteric and magical wisdom and techniques practiced in the West today. While the rituals and bare teachings of the tradition have been published for sixty years, the inner workings and esoteric keys that empower those rituals have largely remained unpublished or unexplored in contemporary works. By Names and Images remedies this lack by providing detailed and clear instructions for the visualisations, spiritual connections and energetic practices required for every major GD practice and ritual, as well as several unpublished techniques.

“Focusing on the meanings and use of sacred names and practical techniques of visualisation, the book thoroughly explores meditation and divination, purification ritual, invocation and evocation, grades of initiation, and direct experience of the inner realms. Also covered is an explanation of the Qabalah and its use as a magical framework. While the book is sufficiently practical and clearly explained to be of huge benefit to a newcomer of magic, its primary aim is to allow people already practicing the Golden Dawn system to do so more effectively, and to be touched by the amazing spiritual blessings the rituals offer.”

Peregrin begins the interview by talking about how his excellent book By Names and Images: Bringing the Golden Dawn to Life is intended to allow practitioners to engage with the tradition as deeply as possible, improve their lives, and serve the world in a meaningful capacity. Next, he describes how he’s been involved with the Golden Dawn tradition since his late teens and the appeal for him stems from its capacity to transform practitioners. It was important to Peregrin to account for this potential for inner transformation in his book, By Names and Images, as opposed to the outer manifestations of the Golden Dawn, as expressed by Israel Regardie. From there, Wildoak talks about his personal history in Golden Dawn lodges, his teachers, as well as his thoughts about the fact that much of the Golden Dawn tradition is in the public domain. Notably, Peregrin points out that despite the standardized public versions of the rituals and meditations, diversity of thought about theory and practice flourishes in the various GD lodges throughout the world.

Peregin shares his thoughts on the subject of initiation and connection with egregore with regard to the Golden Dawn tradition. We spend some time discussing the Watchtower ceremony, the Analysis of the Keyword, and Enochian magick. We wrap up the interview with Peregrin discussing his compulsion to write By Names and Images and his hopes for the inclusion of the inner work in all future magickal books.

I highly recommend Peregrin Wildoak’s By Names and Images: Bringing the Golden Dawn to Life. If you’re a GD practitioner, it’s a must have in my opinion. Don’t just take my word for it, read what the luminaries of the GD tradition have written here. Even if you’re not part of the GD tradition, the book is still an important and valuable resource because the detailed explanations of the inner work of ceremonial magick, visualization, and meditation can be applied to a variety of forms of esotericism.

Fantastic show! I have to go back and re-listen there was quite a bit to this one. I am going to get this book as well, I just bought Regardie’s The Complete Golden Dawn and it looks this one would be right at home next to it! Thank you for another thought provoking and enjoyable show. As always, Keep up the Great Work Greg!